Young Man to spend 72 years in jail for robbery

A twenty-three year old Man who was sentenced to forty-eight (48) years in prison with hard labour by a Circuit Court in Accra on Wednesday has been handed another twenty-four (24) year jail term in a separate case for robbery.

The Convict, Benjamin Akwei, a bus conductor (a driver’s mate) and his accomplice who is on the run robbed one Doreen Mawufemor, a Police woman, of her thirty-two (32) inches LG plasma tv, an iPhone, a pistol with five rounds of ammunition and cash of GH 1,000.00 cedis, the Prosecutor said.

Benjamin pleaded guilty to the charge leveled against him by the Prosecution when he made his second appearance in court on Thursday and was accordingly jailed twenty-four (24) years for robbery.

In another development, the Convict and his accomplices who are on the run also robbed one Hannah Amegadzi, a nurse of her Samsung tablet and a mobile phone, a Samsung flat screen tv and GH 1,700.00 cash, all to the tune of GH 5,200.00 cedis but he denied the charges preferred against him by the Police and was thereafter remanded into custody to reappear on Thursday, the 28th of April, 2016.

The Convict was charged with conspiracy and robbery respectively and he pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him by the Police in all three cases.

Benjamin was convicted on his own plea.
Pleading for mitigation, the Convict said that he was sorry for the offences committed, adding that the Complainants should forgive him.
Pronouncing judgment, the presiding judge, His Honour, Aboagye Tandoh took into consideration the Accused person’s plea for mitigation and the fact that he had been in custody for almost two weeks, adding that he was also a young man and moreover he readily admitted the offences. The Presiding Judge also took into consideration that the items stolen by the Accused had not yet been retrieved by the Police, stating that the method adopted by the Accused in his robbery expedition, denying people of their hard earned properties warranted a deterrent sentence.

The Court acquitted and discharged the Convict on the charges of conspiracy, stating that the Convict alone could not conspire with himself to commit the offences.

His Honour however sentenced Benjamin to twenty-four (24) years in prison with hard labour on the offence of robbery for each of the three cases, implying that the Convict will spend seventy-two (72) years in jail.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu told the court that on the 20th of March, 2016, at about 3:39am, the Convict and his accomplice who is on the run attacked the Complainant, Doreen Mawufemor who is a Police woman and ordered her to surrender her pistol, mobile phone and money, including the aforementioned items, robbing her of her belongings at Nungua Buade in Accra.

The Prosecution also stated that on the 4th of February, 2016, at about 2:00am at Nungua Addogonno, the Convict, Benjamin Akwei and his accomplices who are on the run (at large) armed themselves with a machete, a pair of scissors, a cutter, a torch and a screw driver and entered the bedroom of the Complainant, Sally Bortier robbing her of the aforementioned items, including an amount of money.

In a separate development, the Convict and his accomplices also attacked a Complainant, one Evelyn Nancy Abban in her bedroom whilst she was asleep and robbed her of her mobile phone and cash. The robbery incident happened on the 20th of February, 2016, at about 3:00am at Nungua Royal Park in Accra, the Prosecution said.